No. 20 Midwestern State (9-4) vs. Texas Wesleyan (8-2)
Thursday, Mar. 31, 2016 | 3:30 p.m.
MSU Tennis Center | Wichita Falls, Texas


WICHITA FALLS, Texas – Following a five-match road swing in Colorado over spring break, the 20th-ranked Midwestern State women's tennis team makes their return to the MSU Tennis Center for a Thursday afternoon matchup against NAIA Texas Wesleyan. First serve is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
 
LAST TIME OUT
– Midwestern State concluded its Colorado road trip with a 9-0 sweep over in-region foe Colorado State-Pueblo and a 4-1 defeat to NCAA Division I Air Force last weekend
– After suffering losses to a pair of top-10 teams in No. 3 Saint Leo (7-2) and No. 9 Hawaii Pacific (7-2), the Mustangs collected a win over host Metro State (8-1) at the Regency Athletic Complex in Denver before traveling south to Pueblo
 
MUSTANGS JUMP TO NO. 20 IN NATIONAL RANKINGS
– Midwestern State climbed two spots to No. 20 in the Oracle/ITA Women's Division II national rankings released Mar. 23 by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association
– The Mustangs also stayed at No. 3 in the latest South Central Region rankings released on Mar. 16, coming in behind No. 12 St. Mary's and No. 17 Cameron
 
A LOOK AT THE MUSTANGS
– Midwestern State enters the week with a 9-4 record on the season and 8-2 mark against NCAA Division II opponents
– Senior Maddie Schorlemmer climbed to No. 27 in the national singles rankings last week, currently sporting a 7-5 dual play record with a 6-4 mark at No. 1 this season
– The duo of senior Lindsay Nochowicz and freshman Eirini Kontaki also appeared in the rankings, moving in at No. 23 in doubles with a 7-4 record on the year
– Senior Lauren Pineda leads the Mustangs with a 9-2 record in singles while teaming up with sophomore Amy Clifton for a 12-1 mark to rank sixth in the South Central Region as MSU's No. 2 doubles team
– Freshman Greta Lazzarotto, ranked 14th in the region, is 8-5 in singles, primarily spending her time at the No. 2 position
– Schorlemmer and Lazzarotto round out the doubles lineup for the Mustangs, carrying an 11-2 record at No. 3
– Kontaki is ranked 17th in the region with a 7-4 singles record on courts two and three this season while Pineda has moved her way up to the No. 4 line, posting a 5-2 record at that position
– Junior Abby White is 4-0 at No. 5 and 3-1 at No. 6 on the season while Nochowicz has suffered just one loss in singles play at 6-1 while appearing at Nos. 4 and 5
– Sophomore Alexis Arrieta has also seen action for the Mustangs this season with a 5-2 mark at Nos. 5 and 6 singles
 
SCOUTING THE LADY RAMS
– Texas Wesleyan comes into Thursday's matchup with an 8-2 record on the season, having won its last two contests
– The Lady Rams have faced two NCAA Division II opponents this season, falling to Tarleton State (9-0) and Texas-Permian Basin (6-3)
– TWU is led by Emily Murchland, who sports a 10-2 record at No. 1 singles and teams up with Katy Foster for a 10-1 mark at the top doubles position
– Foster is 8-3 overall in singles this season with a 7-3 record at the No. 2 position
– Angel Martinez restarted the TWU women's tennis program prior to the 2015-16 school year for the first season of competition since 2002
 
INSIDE THE SERIES
– Texas Wesleyan holds an 11-8 edge over Midwestern State in the all-time series dating back to 1978
– The Lady Rams won the first 10 meetings in the series, all coming prior to the 1985 season
– Midwestern State has won eight of the last nine with Texas Wesleyan earning its lone win in that span in 1999
– The two teams last met in 2001 with the Mustangs earning a 5-4 win in Lawton, Okla.
– MSU is 3-5 at home against the Lady Rams, earning a 7-2 victory in its last match at home back in 2000
 
PINEDA CAPTURES 100TH CAREER WIN
– Lauren Pineda became the seventh Mustang in program history to earn career win No. 100 with a pair of victories over Colorado Mesa on Mar. 13
– Pineda is currently 108-40 for her career to rank sixth on the all-time wins list with a 43-16 singles record and 65-24 doubles mark, ranking fifth on the doubles wins list and ninth in singles
– Pineda comes in behind Lacey Wuthrich (138), Emilee Black (135), Brooke Gray (131), Sara Butler (129) and Marsha Meyer (111) on the MSU all-time wins list while moving in front of former teammate Taylor Coffman (100) following a pair of victories over Southwest Baptist on Mar. 16
 
LINN EARNS WIN NO. 400
– Head coach Scott Linn received a memorable win No. 400 last May when the MSU women's tennis team upset No. 12 California (Pa.) in the NCAA Sweet 16
– Linn enters his sixth season leading the MSU men's and women's tennis programs, guiding the Mustangs to a combined seven postseason appearances since taking over the programs in 2010-11
– Linn has posted an 87-40 record (.685) with the men's team while recording an 92-44 mark (.676) with the women for a combined 179-84 (.681)
– Since 1997-98, Linn has compiled a 418-263 (.614) career record in 15 seasons as a men's head coach (229-150, .604) and 12 seasons as a women's coach (189-113, .626), averaging close to 15 wins a season
– Prior to MSU, Linn served head coaching stints at Science & Arts. (Okla.), Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and Florida Southern while serving as a men's assistant coach at his alma mater, East Central (Okla.), and Indiana
 
LOOKING AHEAD
– Midwestern State travels to Arlington for a pair of matches against No. 12 St. Mary's and No. 47 Dallas Baptist at the Arlington Tennis Center Saturday
– The Mustangs first face the 12th-ranked Rattlers in an 8 a.m. contest before taking on host DBU at 2 p.m.